REFLECTION. In politics sometimes in politics your friends hurt you. Most often this is because they were never your friends. What is gained from Wright is the Obama strength and resolution. When looking at declining delegate strength, that could be reversed, we see Clintons weakness when she fights with desperation. I think of the renewed image of the United States when a Black President addresses the world stage. Go !Obama!.[trb]

DO NOT BELIEVE THIS REPUBLICAN PROPAGANDA ABOUT A FRACTURED PARTY U.S. presidential primaries often divide party loyalists, but the drawn-out battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama may leave some Democrats too bitter to band together against the Republicans in November.[R]

WRIGHT AN INFLUENCE ON VOTERS DECISION ON OBAMA A majority of American voters say that the furor over the relationship between Senator Barack Obama and his former pastor has not affected their opinion of Mr. Obama, but a substantial number say that it could influence voters this fall should he be the Democratic presidential nominee, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.[n]

GAS TALK BOGUS IDEA At the same time, an overwhelming majority of voters said candidates calling for the suspension of the federal gasoline tax this summer were acting to help themselves politically, rather than to help ordinary Americans. Mr. Obama’s rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, has made the suspension of the gas tax a centerpiece of her campaign in recent days. [n]

MORE CLINTON GIMMICKRY In the survey, taken in the days leading up to the primaries on Tuesday in Indiana and North Carolina, Americans were divided over the merits of the gasoline-tax suspension, which has also been backed by the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, and condemned by Mr. Obama as political gimmickry.[n] Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama spent the final Sunday before the two primaries debating the gas-tax holiday and other issues on morning talk shows and in events across Indiana. [n]

OBAMA GETS HIGH MARKS ON HANDLING OF WRIGHT The poll, conducted after Mr. Obama held a news conference on Tuesday in which he renounced his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., for making incendiary comments, found that most Americans said they approved of the way Mr. Obama had responded to the episode and considered his criticism of Mr. Wright appropriate. [n] But nearly half of the voters surveyed, and a substantial part of the Democrats, said Mr. Obama had acted mainly because he thought it would help him politically, rather than because he had serious disagreements with his former pastor. [N]

WRIGHT NOT RIGHT, OBAMA PLIGHT WILL VOTES BE LOST...MIGHT The broader effect of the controversy on Mr. Obama’s candidacy among Democratic primary voters was less clear in the poll, but enough of them expressed qualms about Mr. Obama’s relationship with Mr. Wright to suggest it could sway a relatively small but potentially important group of voters in the remaining primaries.[n]

DEMOCRATS WILL UNITE While party leaders insist Democrats will mend fences once a nominee is chosen -- which could happen as late as the party's convention in August -- the increasing bitterness and very nature of the battle between Obama and Clinton, a New York senator, may make healing harder than usual.[R] Thirty percent of Clinton supporters said they would not vote for Obama in November if he were the nominee, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released last week. Twenty-two percent of Obama voters said they would not vote for Clinton.[R]

NEGATIVE SAMPLE TOO SMALL The relatively small number of Democrats surveyed limits the conclusions that can be drawn about the poll’s findings regarding sentiment in the party. Moreover, as a national poll, it does not necessarily reflect the thoughts of voters in Indiana and North Carolina.[n] Questions involving racially charged episodes have historically proved difficult to poll, particularly when it comes to asking white voters about black candidates.[n]

STRONG PREACHER WEAKENS CANDIDATE Still, the survey suggested that Mr. Obama, of Illinois, had lost much or all of the once-commanding lead he had held over Mrs. Clinton, of New York, among Democratic voters on the question of which of them would be the strongest candidate against Mr. McCain, of Arizona. [n] In February, 59 percent called Mr. Obama the stronger candidate, compared with 28 percent who named Mrs. Clinton. In the latest survey, the two were essentially tied. [n] The survey of 601 registered voters was conducted between Thursday night and Saturday night. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points for all voters and six points for voters who said they voted in Democratic primaries or caucuses. Mr. Obama held his news conference on Tuesday after Mr. Wright, in a series of public appearances, reiterated his suggestion that American policies had invited the attack of Sept. 11 and that the United States had created the virus that causes AIDS, and mocked the speaking style of John F. Kennedy.[n]

DEMS STILL STRONGER For all the concern voiced by some Democrats that the party might be suffering damage from the nominating fight as it headed into the fall election, the survey found both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama in a strong position against Mr. McCain in a hypothetical general election match-up. Mr. Obama would defeat Mr. McCain by 51 percent to 40 percent among all voters, the poll found, and Mrs. Clinton would defeat him 53 to 41.[n] Greene said parties had reunited despite bitter battles in previous primaries, and this time would be no exception. Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and Clinton herself have also said they are confident the rifts will mend.[R] "I think we'll have a unified Democratic Party once we have a nominee," Clinton said on Saturday in North Carolina.[R] "I have no doubt about that because no matter how passionately either my supporters or Senator Obama's supporters feel about us, they have much more in common in terms of what we want in our country than they do with Senator McCain and the Republicans, because that would be more of the same."[R]

PUBLIC SAYS MOVE ON FROM WRIGHT OBAMA DID RIGHT The survey offered evidence of the extent to which the Wright episode had captured the public’s attention. And it turned up signs that Mr. Obama might be moving beyond the issue: 60 percent of voters said they approved of the way he had handled the issue, and a majority said the news media had spent too much time covering the story.[n]

I AGREE[TRB]...END—

FYI

GSI has been an observer of the Flint School Board actions over the past four years. We have witnessed considerable progress in the operation of the schools under the current board and under the current superintendent.

Many of our members have attended the various candidate forums over the past few weeks. Our members believe the incumbent board members have earned the right to continue in office and to continue to oversee our Flint Schools.

Those incumbents are Vera Perry, Antoinette Lockett and Jennifer Dillard and they are running for the three vacancies for the four year term. (You can choose to vote for all three)

The Flint School Board election is Tuesday, May 6th, and we encourage you to vote!